Peppermint oil - bad reaction

[BBEliza25]

Anyone experienced this?

GP prescribed peppermint oil having had IBS for years. Have tried everything else.

Made my symptoms (excessive gas, gurgling, trapped wind) much worse. I only took for one day - 0.4ml an hour before lunch and dinner. Should I persevere or abandon?

[Linley]

Yes, I found peppermint tea taken on an empty tum had exactly the same effect, so I imagine that peppermint oil is a lot stronger🤔

What I do now is have the tea after I have eaten to aid digestion. Can only suggest that you try your oil after meals?? Let us know how you get on

[one-n-den]

Hi,

Before abandoning peppermint oil, you could try it in the form of enteric-coated capsules such as Colpermin.

These preserve the oil as it passes through your stomach and only release it in the gut, where the bloating and spasms of IBS occur.

I hope that helps.

[Carlettejaque]

No, stop taking it. A lot of people advocate peppermint oil but it's been found to make IBS worse. I certainly can't take it. Doctors don't seem to realise this. Ginger tea can work in some people. For gas and bloating you could try carbon or charcoal tablets but it can cause constipation if you don't drink enough.

I've suffered with IBS for many years and have tried everything. The things that I have to avoid are peppermint, spearmint, turmeric, Omeprazole, aspirin and Ibuprofen. I've also found that over the counter IBS remedies also don't work for me because relaxing the bowel means they slow the transit of food through the gut, therefore keeping irritant food/drugs in the bowel for longer causing longer boughts of pain.

You may be different of course.

[xjrs]

I haven't tried peppermint oil myself. However just in case you weren't aware of some aspects of IBS and in case this might give you other things to try here is some information about IBS that I have shared with others in this group:

IBS can be due to a number or combination of factors - these can be stress (including stress from early life experiences) which impacts the communication between the brain and the digestive system. There are lots of free webinars online at the moment regarding mindfulness meditation which might help. Plus you can ask to be referred for CBT or something similar to reduce your anxiety - I would have thought online appointments are available. Exercise can play a major role in IBS in terms of reducing stress, helping your gut microbiome and regulating bowel movements.

There is also not absorbing certain types of carbohydrates called FODMAPs very well, the residue ending up in the colon and bacteria feeding off them causing symptoms. Ordinarily feeding gut bacteria is a really good thing - when you feed good gut bacteria these produce by-products that have great health effects in the gut and throughout the body. However, in some people with IBS bad bugs might have the upper hand over good - these bad bugs may cause symptoms such as pain or disordered bowel movements. There is an interesting infographic on this here:

gutmicrobiotaforhealth.com/....

This is why it’s worth trying probiotics such as Alflorex (which has been scientifically studied for IBS) or Symprove to crowd out the bad bugs and make their numbers die down. If that doesn't work you can try the FODMAP elimination and reintroduction diet. This is normally under the guidance of a nutritionist via GP referral - this may not be possible at the moment so you can read about it online. If you download the Monash University FODMAP app it will tell you which foods contain FODMAPs and in what quantities. You can eliminate all FODMAPs for 2 weeks and then introduce each type of FODMAP one at a time starting in small quantities, increasing over a 3 day period and wait up to 4 days for symptoms. I go much slower than this - only introducing a small amount (1/4 to 1/3 of a normal portion size) of the same food for 3 days and then increase if tolerable or no symptoms and cut back to the previous amount if symptoms for longer and then try to increment again . I've read your microbiome can adapt to handling a new food if introduced very slowly and your bad bugs are under control with a good probiotic. Ideally you want to eat as many FODMAPs as you can since they are good for your health. Many people with IBS don't have diverse gut bacteria - it has been found that people who lack a diverse microbiome are more prone to diseases in general. In the long run, if you can get your symptoms under control, the ideal situation is to have a very varied diet - lots of different coloured fruits and vegetables, a variety of protein and carbohydrate sources including cereal fibres. This may seem a long way off, but with the right treatment all of this is possible. Last year all I could consume to control my IBS was white rice, protein and limited low fodmap veg. Using the approach above (particularly introducing Alflorex) I am now able to consume far more foods - more than I've ever dreamed of including wholewheat bread which is unheard of for me.

If you are also suffering from pain, you may be suffering from visceral hypersensitivity (functional abdominal pain) - there is info about it here:

iffgd.org/lower-gi-disorder...

It is where the brain interprets the normal activity of the bowel as pain - this is due to a wearing down of neurons in pain control centres of the brain which can be caused by PTSD, neglect or abuse in childhood, extreme stressful events etc. The first line treatment is nerve pain agents such as low dose amitriptyline. There is a theory that being on something like amitriptyline for 6-12 months can help the pain control centre neurons to regenerate. Note that amitriptyline can cause constipation, but this can be helpful in people who are diarrhea dominant. Unfortunately I couldn't tolerate these. Linaclotide (for IBS-C only) & Alflorex have helped me with this intestinal pain.

You may also find assistance with anti-spasmodic medication such as mebeverine (Colofac).

You can find some info on self management here:

theibsnetwork.org/the-self-...

[BBEliza25 in reply to xjrs]

Thanks for your reply but over last 3 years have tried everything you mention and absolutely NOTHING has worked for me... !

[AliciaC73]

Colpemin (peppermint oil capsules) made me so much worse, although turns out I might have BAM

[MissNyxiie]

I tried colpemin, within hours i was at a urgent care centre because the pain in my stomache was unbearable. The doctor their told me that it was useless and wouldnt help and told me to not take it again.